Plague Inc: Evolved

This post is from the now defunct website “A GameDev Plays…”, copied here for posterity

Unleash your inner misanthrope along with a deadly disease! In Plague
Inc: Evolved
the player is a disease intent on the eradication of humanity. Very
grim, but strangely addictive and well-made.

In Plague Inc the player is one of various diseases, initially mostly
harmless, but with grand plans to destroy humanity. That is the game’s
goal: kill all humans. Leaving a single person alive is considered
mission failure. Progress towards success is achieved by gathering “DNA
points” (partially by clicking bubbles as they appear on the map), and
then spending them on various mutations - giving your disease improved
infectiousness, seriousness, lethality or other effects. That is it.
Simple, but effective and well-made. The graphics are good and there is
lots of easy to find information on what is happening.

Each game of Plague Inc becomes a battle between infecting as many
people as fast as possible, without killing them too quickly, and
finishing the job before humans find a cure. Games last 20-30 minutes
and every game I have played was close at the end. There are also many
new scenarios, diseases and power-ups that become available as you
complete earlier missions. With a feel half-way between a board-game and
a clicker game, Plague Inc: Evolved is clearly inspired by modern,
casual game design. It is easy to pick and play a quick game. I often
had that “one more try” feeling.

Plague Inc: Evolved is US$14.99 on the Steam
store for PC, Mac and Linux.
There is also a mobile version. It has been bundled.